After a spate of well publicised incidents involving international students in Australia the Australian Senate referred a number of matters to the Senate Standing Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (EEWR) References Committee for inquiry and report by November 2009 into the Welfare of International Students Studying in Australia. 

The matters directly affecting Homestay Network and the Homestay accommodation services sector referred to are:

• Roles and responsibilities in ensuring the quality and adequacy in information, advice, service delivery and support, in particular:
  • student safety;
  • adequate and affordable accommodation
  • social inclusion;
  • adequate international student support.

It is important to note that in over twenty years of providing homestay services in Australia, Homestay Network has no recorded instance of an incident involving a student or guest staying in homestay style accommodation.  As a provider of accommodation services Homestay Network welcomes the outcomes of this Government inquiry, to place homestay accommodation in the context of the report, two pages of the report dealt with this accommodation format.

Committee View -

The committee accepts the evidence that homestay accommodation is beneficial to international students, the host family as well as the community at large. The committee supports calls for more homestay arrangements for international students as part of the solution to accommodation shortages, although the committee recognises the need to ensure minimum standards are met.

Senate Standing Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (EEWR) References Committee, November 2009, Welfare of International Students: pp 44-45 

Homestay Network supports the Senate Committee's view on the benefits of homestay accommodation for all students, not just international students by ensuring that guests staying with our hosts are as safe as possible.  

Student Safety

We support this by working with our hosts on, but not limited to:

• Education Department mandated background checks. 
• Ensuring the accommodation is provided within a reasonable distance from the guests education centre.
• Analysing social and demographic features of host locations to maximise the safety of our guests
• Providing our guests with information relevant to their transport needs.
• Performance of routine, scheduled and ad-hoc inspections of the accommodation on offer.
• Continuous advice to our hosts on their obligations to guests with respect to accommodation, food and hygiene  standards
• Provision of assistive documentation and training.
• Verifying that Hosts and Students/Guests understand cross-cultural issues that may arise through extensive research and customer satisfaction surveys

Adequate and affordable accommodation

Homestay is recognised in Australia as providing a supportive family-style accommodation support framework for our guests.  Many of our hosts have made their homes available to students for over 20 years.  Our rates are include three (3) meals per day, 7 days per week, please refer to the Guest Accommodation page for more details.

Social Inclusion

All of our host families encourage their guests to participate in their family activities, such as parties, BBQ's, day trips etc, whenever possible and so long as the guest's study requirements permit.  Homestay Network encourages guests to take up these opportunities to improve their level of spoken english and to experience Australian family hospitality.

Adequate international student support

Homestay Network works with the education institutions it services to provide a personalised service to support our guest's studies, including but not limited to a 24 hour a day emergency contact number that will be answered by one of our trained and highly supportive staff who is empowered to solve issues should they arise.